Trump tells senators House health bill 'mean'

Passage of that House bill, one will recall, was celebrated in the White House Rose Garden by the entire House GOP caucus.

"I can promise you this president is fighting every single day to rescue the American people from this policy, to repeal and replace Obamacare, and give the American people access to the world-class healthcare that every American deserves", Pence said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch MicConnell and the Republicans are now drafting a new version of the AHCA.

Hatch attended the lunch and told members of the press it is unlikely that the Senate's version will be made public this week. "You're free to ask anybody anything".

President Trump told Republican senators Tuesday that the House-passed healthcare bill he helped revive is "mean", and urged them to craft a version that is "more generous," congressional sources said.

"We promised the voters we'd repeal Obamacare", Paul added.

While Washington remains focused on that big Russian cloud over the Trump administration, Republicans are proceeding apace with their plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and deprive millions of Americans of their health care coverage.

"Well, I think we're not anxious so much about that as we are getting it together so we can get a majority to vote for it", said Hatch, a grandee who has served in the Senate for 40 years.

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri has criticized Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a key player in modifying the health-care legislation, for not being more transparent in the process. "There's a group of guys in a backroom somewhere making these decisions", McCaskill said.

Like the House, the Senate held no hearings or open committee markups. Considering a number of offsets and spending, over the next decade the bill would save the government a total of $119 billion. "Put the bill out there and let us debate it and let us amend it". A CBO analysis of the bill will take ten to 14 days, meaning text of legislation would have to be sent to the CBO by the end of the week. If the President was a real leader, he would tell McConnell and Ryan that their bill isn't good enough and threaten to veto it if it passes.

Given the public's poor reception of the House bill - recent polls showed more than half opposed it, and less than one-fourth supported it - you'd think Senate Republicans would be reluctant to follow a similar path. That would bypass the usual 60-vote threshold and keep Democrats from blocking the measure.

Republicans are trying to win over more moderate voices such as Sen. The GOP also has a tight timeline with leaders including Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas calling for action before an August recess to provide time for other priorities later. Find us on Facebook too! Lamar Alexander, Colorado Sen.

"I have none planned", Alexander said.

We don't know. There have been no hearings, no released drafts, no informational meetings. They agreed to language letting states drop requirements under Obama's health care law protecting people with pre-existing medical conditions from higher premiums and requiring insurers to cover specific services like maternity care.